Hosiery guard



March 14, 1939.

v HosIERY GUARD.

Filed Nov. 2, 1937 INVENTOR:

ATTORNEY' Patented Mar. 14, 1939 UNITED STATES nosIEnY GUARD James H. Kane, San Francisco, Calif., assigner of one-half to Albert T. Roche, San Francisco,

Calif.

Application November 2, 1937, Serial No. 172,362

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in hosiery guards and has for its object the protection of the hose of the wearer while having his or her shoes shined.

Another object is to so shape and stillen a piece of paper or sheetvmaterial that it may be easily inserted within the top of the foot wear and easily removed and disposed of after use.

Further objects and advantages will appear as the description progresses.

The operation of shining shoes involves the use of dye stuff and liquid and paste application. Since these various products must be applied and finished by the use of brushes, such operations are hazardous to the exposed hosiery area adjacent the shoe tops. 'Ihis is especially true in the case of the iine texture and light coloring of womens hosiery where accidental smudging is almost impossible to avoid and yet do justice to the shining operation.

I n this specification and the accompanying drawing, the invention is shown in its preferred form, but it is to be understood that it is not limited to this form because it may be embodied in other forms within the purview of the claims following the description.

In the one sheet of drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the footwear and the ankle of the wearer having this invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a plane view of a paper guard shaped and creased in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross section of the same taken on the line III- IIL Fig. 2.

In detail, the construction illustrated in the drawing, referring iirst to Fig. 2, comprises a sheet of relatively strong stiff paper su'ch as is commonly used for wrapping bundles and commonly known as wrapping paper. There is a wide variety of such paper suitable for the present purpose. The symmetrical shape shown in Fig. 2 has the top line I, I, the curved ends 2, 2, and the Wing ankle portions 3, 3 curving into the instep portion 4. This cutaway portion 4 forms the crown 5 of the succeeding guard sol that the guards may be blanked out with a minimum of waste from standard sheets of paper. This blank is ribbed or rugated transversely of its length, as at 6, 6, (see Fig. 3), to give added stiffness to the sheet to facilitate its insertion within the top of the shoe of the wearer. 'I'he blank, unribbed instep portion l provides an appropriate space for advertising matter. It is preferable to leave the overlapping end portions 2, 2 unribbed.

In applying the hosiery guard, the portion 4 is laid over the instep behind thetop of the tongue 8 in the front of the shoe 9. The ankle portions 3, 3 are then inserted between the upper edge It of the shoe and the ankle of the wearer so that these portions 3, 3 project well into the shoe. The overlapping ends 2, 2 overlie the muscle of Achilles at the back of the ankle. The stiiening effect of overlapping these ends facilitates their insertion above the heel l l. The rugations 6, 6 provide the necessary stiiness to the sheet to enable the portions 3, 3 to be easily inserted Within the shoe top without wrinkling the hosiery guard longitudinally. This operation may be facilitated by unla'cing the shoe, but it is not essential to the placing of the guard.

Thus applied it is obvious that the guard protects that portion of the hose of the wearer adjacent the top of the shoe while the blacking is being daubed on and from any blacking that may adhere to the polishing brush or polishing rag during the subsequent operation of shining the shoe.

When the operation is complete, the hose guard is removed in an obvious manner and discarded.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A hosiery guard comprising a blank of sheet material with its upper and lower edges curved upwardly at the instep portion and forming downwardly curved ankle portions lateral to said instep portion and adapted to be overlapped over the muscle of Achilles of the wearer; and stiffening ribs formed in said blank across the width of the ankle portions between said instep portion and the unribbed ends of said blank.

2. A hosiery guard comprising a blank of sheet material with its central upper and its central lower edges 'curved upwardly at the instep portion and having downwardly curved ankle portions lateral to said instep portion and having ends which are adapted to be overlapped over the muscle of Achilles of the wearer; and stiifening ribs formed across the width of said ankle portions and upwardly from the lower edge to about the medial area of said instep portion, said overlapping ends being left unribbed.

JAMES H. KANE. 

